Mobile communication terminal and terminal operation method

ABSTRACT

An object is to effectively use a surface of a display unit of a mobile communication terminal and to appropriately set a detection area according to display modes, thereby allowing a user to perform an operation easily and intuitively. A mobile communication terminal 110 of the present disclosure includes a display unit 214, a screen control unit 240 that displays a plurality of screens arranged on the display unit, a touch detection unit 218 that receives a user input to a surface of the display unit 214 and a detection area setting unit 242 that, when the plurality of screens are arranged on the display unit 214, sets, as a detection area of the touch detection unit 218 that receives an operation to each of the screens, an area corresponding to either one screen according to sizes of the screens.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/994,660 filed Nov. 24, 2010, which is the U.S.National Phase Application of International Application No.PCT/JP2009/059797, filed May 28, 2009, which claims benefit of JapanesePatent Application No. 2008-138881 filed May 28, 2008, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a mobile communication terminalcapable of displaying a plurality of screens and a terminal operationmethod.

BACKGROUND ART

Regarding the terrestrial digital broadcasting since December, 2003, thecoverage area has been expanded on a national scale and the users havealso increased as the end of the conventional terrestrial analogbroadcasting approaches. The terrestrial digital broadcasting is abroadcasting way of transmitting broadcasting signals through radiowaves having 13 segments including 12 segments for fixed televisionreceiver and one segment for mobile communication terminal (hereinafter,referred to as one segment broadcasting) by OFDM (Orthogonal FrequencyDivision Multiplex), and can receive images and sounds of higherquality, in which ghost and noise are suppressed, compared to theterrestrial analog broadcasting.

The one segment broadcasting can be watched anytime and anywhere by amobile communication terminal such as mobile telephone and PHS (PersonalHandy phone System), and a new usage utilizing its portability is beingstudied.

In the mobile communication terminal, when watching the one segmentbroadcasting, a user operates, for example, a dial push button of themobile communication terminal to select a program channel, like a remotecontroller. That is, the user can operate operation keys, whichcorresponds to respective broadcasting stations or perform the operationthrough an application-dedicated menu, thereby watching a desiredprogram.

SUMMARY

A communication terminal according to the present disclosure comprises adisplay that displays at least a first image and a second image adjacentto the first image; a touch detector that receives a user input on asurface of the display; and a controller including a processorcommunicatively coupled to memory containing instructions, the processorexecuting the instructions to control the display and to display thefirst image and the second image simultaneously on the display and tochange the sizes of the first image and the second image relative to oneanother. With the second image smaller than the first image, thecontroller controls display of the first image if the touch detectorreceives a user input on an area of the second image on the display, andwith the first image smaller than the second image, the controllercontrols the display of the second image if the touch detector receivesa user input on an area of the first image on the display, and thecontrolling of the display of the first image and the controlling of thedisplay of the second image is switched with a user input to change therelative sizes of the first and second images.

A communication terminal according to another aspect of the disclosurecomprises a processor; and memory communicatively coupled to theprocessor and containing instructions that when executed by theprocessor cause the processor to: display on a display including a touchdetector that receives a user input on a surface of the display at leasta first image and a second image adjacent to the first image; with thesecond image smaller than the first image, control the display of thefirst image if a user input on an area of the second image on thedisplay; with the first image smaller than the second image, control thedisplay of the second image if the touch detector receives a user inputon an area of the first image on the display; and switch between controlof the display of the first image and control of the display of thesecond image with a user input to change the relative sizes of the firstand second images.

A communication terminal according to yet another aspect of thedisclosure comprises a display that displays at least a first image anda second image adjacent to the first image on a display; a processorcommunicatively coupled to memory containing instructions, the processorexecuting the instructions to set one of a first mode, a second mode,and a third mode, and the processor operable to: set the first mode,operable to set the second mode, and operable to set the third mode,wherein in the first mode, the first image and the second image aredisplayed at substantially a same size, in the second mode, a size ofthe second image is smaller than a size of the first image, and in thethird mode, the size of the first image is smaller than the size of thesecond image; control display of the first image if a user inputs on anarea of the second image in the second mode; and control display of thesecond image if a user inputs on an area of the first image in the thirdmode. A transition from the second mode to the third mode causes theprocessor to switch from control of display of the first image tocontrol of display of the second image, and a transition from the thirdmode to the second mode causes the processor to switch from control ofdisplay of the second image to control of display of the first image,and one of the transitions between the second and third modes changeswith a change in the relative size of the first and second images.

EFFECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

As described above, according to the present disclosure, it is possibleto effectively use a surface of a display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanation diagram showing a schematic connectionrelationship in a wireless communication system.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a hardware configuration ofa mobile communication terminal.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an outer appearance of the mobilecommunication terminal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display by a screencontrol unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of a screen display by thescreen control unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display enlarged bythe screen control unit.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a general procedure of a terminaloperation method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the drawings. The sizes,materials, specific numerical values and the like described in theembodiments are just exemplary so as to easily understand the presentdisclosure, and are not to limit the disclosure, unless particularlyotherwise mentioned. Further, in the specification and the drawings, theelements having the substantially same function and configuration willbe designated with the same reference numerals and the overlappeddescriptions thereof will be omitted. In addition, the elements that arenot directly related to the disclosure will not be shown.

(Wireless Communication System 100)

FIG. 1 is an explanation diagram showing a schematic connectionrelationship in a wireless communication system 100. The wirelesscommunication system 100 includes a mobile communication terminal 110, abase station 120 that serves as an access point of the mobilecommunication terminal 110, a communication network 130 that isconnected to the base station 120 and is configured by an ISDN(Integrated Services Digital Network) line, the Internet, a dedicatedline or the like, a video distribution server 140 that is connected tothe communication network 130 and a broadcasting station 150 thattransmits terrestrial digital broadcasting.

In the wireless communication system 100, the mobile communicationterminal 110 can perform a phone call or communication with anothermobile communication terminal 110 through the base station 120 and canreceive video distribution such as streaming from the video distributionserver 140 through the communication network 130. In addition, themobile communication terminal 110 further includes a tuner that receivesone segment broadcasting, as a wireless device, so that a user can watcha television program. This embodiment has an object of effectively usinga surface of a display unit of the mobile communication terminal 110 andappropriately setting a detection area according to display modes toallow a user to perform an operation easily and intuitively.Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the mobile communicationterminal 100 will be described and an operation thereof will bedescribed as a terminal operation method.

(Mobile Communication Terminal 110)

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a hardware configuration ofthe mobile communication terminal 110, and FIG. 3 is a perspective viewshowing an outer appearance of the mobile communication terminal 110.The mobile communication terminal 110 includes a terminal control unit210, a terminal memory 212, a display unit 214, an operation key group216, a touch detection unit 218, a sound input unit 220, a sound outputunit 222, a terminal wireless communication unit 224 and a one segmentreceiving unit 226.

As the mobile communication terminal 110, a variety of electronicdevices capable of performing wireless communication may be used such asa mobile telephone, a PHS terminal, a notebook computer, a PDA (PersonalDigital Assistant), a digital camera, a music player, a car navigation,a gaming device, a DVD player and the like.

The terminal control unit 210 manages and controls the mobilecommunication terminal 110 by a semiconductor integrated circuitincluding a central processing unit (CPU). In addition, the terminalcontrol unit 210 uses programs in the terminal memory 212 to realize acommunication function, mail transmitting and receiving functions, animaging function, a music playing function and a TV watching function.The terminal memory 212 is configured by a ROM, a RAN, an EEPROM, anon-volatile RAM, a flash memory, an HDD or the like. The terminalmemory 212 stores programs, communication data and the like, which areprocessed in the terminal control unit 210. In addition, the terminalmemory 212 serves as an area storage unit 230 that stores an area stateof a screen.

The display unit 214 is configured by a liquid crystal display, EL(Electro Luminescence) display or the like. The display unit 214 candisplay images of the one segment broadcasting that is received in theone segment receiving unit 226. In addition, the display unit 214 candisplay video data, which is stored in the terminal memory 212 orprovided from the video distribution server 140 through thecommunication network 130, web contents provided from another webserver, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) of an application, and thelike.

The operation key group 216 includes a keyboard, cross keys, a movableswitch such as joystick and the like and receives an operation input ofa user.

The touch detection unit 218 receives an operation input of a usercorresponding to a display on a surface of the display unit 214. As thedetection method of the touch detection unit 218, there may be used theconventional methods such as a resistance film method(pressure-sensitive method), an electrostatic capacity method, aninfrared light-shielding method, an ultrasonic surface acoustic wavemethod, an electromagnetic induction method, an electrostatic couplingmethod, an acoustic pulse recognition method, an image recognitionmethod and the like. In addition, a method of recognizing an objectplaced on the surface of the display unit by an optical sensorintegrated to the display unit 214 is also within the technical scope ofthis embodiment.

By the touch detection unit 218, it is possible to receive a user'sintuitive input according to the screen of the display unit 214 withoutusing the operation key group 216, for example. In addition, by thetouch detection unit 218, it is possible to perform analog operationssuch as scrolling and pointing of the web contents displayed on thedisplay unit 214.

The sound input unit 220 is configured by sound recognition means suchas microphone and the like and converts user sound, which is input inmaking a call, into an electric signal that can be processed in themobile communication terminal 110. The sound output unit 222 isconfigured by a speaker and converts and outputs a sound signal of acalling counterpart, which is received in the mobile communicationterminal 110, into sound. In addition, the sound output unit 222 canalso output a ringtone, an operating sound of the operation key group216 or touch detection unit 218, an alarm sound and the like.

The terminal wireless communication unit 224 establishes wirelesscommunication with the base station 120 in a wireless communicationmethod such as CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and WiMAX (WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access) and performs voice communicationwith a communication counterpart or data communication with a webserver. In addition, the terminal wireless communication unit 224 ofthis embodiment can receive a video distribution, such as streamingwhich playing video data and sound data while receiving the video dataand the sound data from the video distribution server 140. The onesegment receiving unit 226 can receive one segment broadcasting. Asusers of the one segment broadcasting increase, needs of mounting aplurality of tuners for one segment broadcasting and watching aplurality of television programs at the same time has occurred.Particularly, in this embodiment, there is provided with two tuners ofreceiving the one segment broadcasting to independently receive twotelevision programs, thereby satisfying the needs.

Further, the terminal control unit 210 serves as a screen control unit240 and a detection area setting unit 242.

The screen control unit 240 controls an image that is output to thedisplay unit 214. For example, when there is a plurality of images to bedisplayed, the screen control unit can divide the display unit 214 intoa plurality of areas and independently arrange a plurality of screens,for example one segment broadcastings or video data such as streaming,in the respective areas. The images that are displayed on the pluralityof screens of the display unit 214 may be images of each page of anelectronic book, a plurality of still images and the like. Additionally,the screen control unit 240 controls switching of the images to bedisplayed on the screens of the display unit 214. For example, when onesegment broadcastings are received, the screen control unit 240 controlschannel switching of the one segment broadcastings to switch the imagesto be displayed on the screens of the display unit 214. In addition, thescreen control unit 240 controls channel switching of the videodistribution such as streaming distributed from the video distributionserver 140 through the communication network 130, thereby switching theimages to be displayed on the screens of the display unit 214. Further,as the control of the channel switching, the screen control unit 240 mayswitch the images to be displayed on the screens of the display unit 214so that the images are switched as turning over of the pages of theelectronic book. Alternatively, the screen control unit 240 may performthe control so that the still images are frame-advanced, therebyswitching the still images to be displayed on the screens of the displayunit 214.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display by the screencontrol unit 240. In FIG. 4, the display unit 214 is equally dividedinto two screens 260, 262 by a boundary line 250 and television programsof different channels are displayed on the respective screens.

When a plurality of screens are arranged with equal sizes on the displayunit 214, the detection area setting unit 242 sets, as a detection areaof the touch detection unit 218 that receives an operation to anapplication corresponding to each of the screens, an area correspondingto (overlapped with) each of the screens. In the example of FIG. 4, whensurfaces of the two-divided screens 260, 262 are touched with a finger,it is possible to operate applications corresponding to the respectiveareas. In particular, regarding the screen 260, when a central upperarea 270 of the screen 260 is touched, the channel of the one segmentbroadcasting displayed on the screen 260 is incremented and when acentral lower area 272 is touched, the channel is decremented. Alsoregarding the screen 262, it is possible to perform the same operationsby touching a central upper area 274 and a central lower area 276.

At this time, a user can enlarge a desired screen of the plurality ofscreens through the touch detection unit 218.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of a screen display by thescreen control unit 240. Particularly, FIG. 5(a) shows an example ofenlarging the screen 260 and FIG. 5(b) shows an example of enlarging thescreen 262. In FIG. 5(a), when a user moves the boundary line 250 in adownward direction of the display unit 214 with a finger, as shown withan arrow, the screen 260 is enlarged and the screen 262 iscorrespondingly reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to enlarge andwatch the desired screen 260.

Here, the detection area setting unit 242 sets, as a detection area ofthe touch detection unit 218 that receives an operation to anapplication corresponding to each of the screens of the display unit215, an area corresponding to either one screen in accordance with sizesof the screens after the boundary line 250 is changed through the touchdetection unit 218 or a position of the boundary line 250. In theexample of FIG. 5(a), a screen having a low priority in a ratio ofscreens, for example an area overlapped with the reduced screen 262 isset as the detection area, and an operation to an applicationcorresponding to the screen 260 is performed from the touch detectionunit 218 in the screen 262.

Specifically, in the mobile communication terminal 110, for example,when a right side area 280 of the screen 262 is touched, the channel ofone segment broadcasting displayed on the screen 260 is incremented, andwhen a left side area 282 is touched, the channel is decremented.Further, in the mobile communication terminal 110, when an upper area284 of the screen 262 is touched, the channel of one segmentbroadcasting displayed on the screen 262 itself is incremented and whena lower area 286 is touched, the channel is decremented.

That is, in the mobile communication terminal 110, the channel switchingof the two screens 260, 262 can be allotted to one screen 262 and thedetection area set in the detection area setting unit 242 can be inputthrough at least two independent routes, such as upper and lower andleft and right sides, so that it is possible to operate the plurality ofscreens effectively and intuitively. Further, in the mobilecommunication terminal 110, the channel switching of the enlarged screen260 is allotted to the right and left areas 280, 282 that have largeoccupying areas and are easily discernible due to spaced distancethereof, so that a favorable operability for the enlarged main screen260 is held.

Herein, the embodiment has been described in which the detection areasetting unit 242 sets the detection areas in the reduced screen 262.However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, thedetection areas may be provided on the enlarged screen 260.

Further, when the screen 262 is enlarged as shown in FIG. 5(b), thedetection areas are set correspondingly to the screen 260 and theoperation inputs of upper and lower and left and right sides (inputs onareas 290, 292, 294, 296 of the screen 260) are possible, similarly tothe example of FIG. 5(a). However, in FIG. 5(b), the enlarged screen 262is switched by the operation to the left and right side areas 292, 290and the reduced area 260 is switched by the operation to the upper andlower areas 294, 296.

The screen control unit 240 also changes one or more of resolutions,sizes and arrangements of images to be displayed, in accordance with thedisplay areas of the respective screens.

Accordingly, the mobile communication terminal 110 can optimize thedisplay of the respective screens on the display areas changed by thetouch detection unit 218 by performing the enlargement and reduction ofresolution, the change of size (screen size) and the change ofarrangements of data broadcasting and the like.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display enlarged bythe screen control unit 240. In particular, FIG. 6(a) shows an exampleof equally dividing the display unit 214 and FIG. 6(b) shows an exampleof enlarging one screen 260. In FIG. 6(a), the screen 260 is enlarged,the resolution and size (screen size) thereof are enlarged and a displayposition 298 of data broadcasting is also changed. By the optimizationof the display area, a user can watch a desired television program witha screen that is appropriately enlarged and has an aspect ratio, whichdoes not cause a sense of incompatibility.

In addition, when the user wants to further enlarge the screen 260 andthus reverses an aspect ratio of the screen 260, the screen control unit240 changes the display direction of one segment broadcasting by 90° towidthwise arrange the display unit 214.

Further, when the mobile communication terminal 110 starts up, thescreen control unit 240 refers to an area memory 230 to start thedisplay at the same area state as a value of the previous times.Accordingly, the mobile communication terminal 110 can restart from thescreen state at which the mobile communication terminal 110 of theprevious times is turned off, so that it can form an optimized displaystate without re-executing the same setting process as the previoustimes.

According to the mobile communication terminal 110 configured asdescribed above, it is possible to effectively use the surface of thedisplay unit 214 without enlarging the mobile communication terminal 110and to appropriately set a detection area according to display modes,thereby allowing a user to perform an operation easily and intuitively.

(Terminal Operation Method)

Hereinafter, a terminal operation method of operating the mobilecommunication terminal 110 will be described.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a general procedure of a terminaloperation method. When a user wants to watch one segment broadcastingwith the mobile communication terminal 110, the one segment receivingunit 226 receives and displays one segment broadcasting on the displayunit 214 (S400). At this time, the one segment receiving unit 226 candisplay two television programs on the display unit through two tuners,respectively, at the same time.

The user can change a ratio of two screens through the touch detectionunit 218 so as to easily watch the two television programs. When themobile communication terminal 110 detects the change of the boundaryline 250 by the touch detection unit 218 (S402), the mobilecommunication terminal changes resolutions, sizes and arrangements ofthe two screens, based on the detection (S404).

At this time, it is determined whether the two screens are equallydivided (S406). When the two screens are equally divided, the detectionarea setting unit 242 sets, as a detection area of the touch detectionunit 218 that receives an operation to an application corresponding toeach of the screens, an area corresponding to (overlapped with) each ofthe screens (S408). When the two screens are not equally divided, thedetection area setting unit 242 sets, as a detection area of the touchdetection unit 218 that receives an operation to an applicationcorresponding to each of the screens of the display unit 215, an areacorresponding to either one screen in accordance with sizes of the twoscreens or a position of the boundary line 250 (S410).

When the user further inputs in the detection areas set by the detectionarea setting unit 242 (S412), for example when the sizes of the twoscreens are not equal and the user touches (clicks) one of left andright sides of the one screen set as the detection area, a channel ofthe other screen is changed (S414). Then, the above processes arerepeated.

With the above terminal operation method, it is possible to allow a userto perform an operation easily and intuitively by appropriately settingthe detection area according to the display aspects of the mobilecommunication terminal 110.

In the mobile communication terminal 110 of this embodiment, it ispossible to change the ratio of screens in conjunction with the settingof the detection area, thereby allowing a user to perform an operationeasily and intuitively, similarly to the setting in accordance with thesizes of the screens.

In a mobile communication terminal, it is typically complicated toperform an operation in order to watch a television program, compared toa dedicated television apparatus. In addition, operation keys andsequences are different for each of mobile communication terminals andit takes time to become accustomed to the operation. However, accordingto the mobile communication terminal 110 of this embodiment, it ispossible to enlarge a desired one screen of the plurality of screensthrough the touch detection unit 218 and to set, as a detection area, ascreen having a low priority in a ratio of screens, for example areduced area. That is, according to this embodiment, it is possible tochange the ratio of screens in conjunction with the setting of thedetection area, thereby allowing a user to perform an operation easilyand intuitively.

According to the mobile communication terminal 110 of this embodiment,the screen control unit 240 displays the video distribution, the channelof which can be switched. Thereby, it is possible to switch the channelof the video distribution by an intuitive operation of contacting aposition opposed to the detection area set in the detection area settingunit 242, for example.

According to the mobile communication terminal 110 of this embodiment,the channel switching of the screens is allotted to the operation inputsto upper and lower and left and right sides, respectively, in the setdetection area. Therefore, it is possible to make input in the detectionarea set by the detection area setting unit 242 with at least twoindependent systems, such as upper and lower sides and left and rightsides, so that it is possible to operate the plurality of screenseffectively and intuitively.

The mobile communication terminal 110 of this embodiment has the areamemory 230 that stores the area states of the screens, and when themobile communication terminal 110 starts up, the screen control unit 240refers to the area memory 230 to start the display at the same areastate as a value of the previous times. Therefore, the mobilecommunication terminal can restart from the screen state at which themobile communication terminal 110 of the previous times is turned off,so that it can form an optimized display state without re-executing thesame setting process as the previous times.

In addition, the one segment receiving unit 226 may be a broadcastingreceiving unit, for example. In this case, the mobile communicationterminal 110 may receive broadcastings through the broadcastingreceiving unit and the screen control unit 240 may display thebroadcasting on the screens at the same area state as values of theprevious times in receiving the broadcastings.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed, it should be noted that the present disclosure is not limitedthereto and can be modified and changed by one skilled in the art withinthe scope of the claims, which are intended to be included in thetechnical scope of the present disclosure.

For example, in the above embodiments, the display unit 214 is dividedinto two screens. However, the embodiments can be applied to a casewhere the display unit is divided into three or more screens.

The respective processes of the terminal operation method are notnecessarily performed time-serially in accordance with the proceduresshown in the flow chart and may be performed in parallel or includeprocessing by a subroutine.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present disclosure can be used in a mobile communication terminalcapable of displaying a plurality of screens and a terminal operationmethod.

DESCRIPTIONS OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   110: mobile communication terminal-   214: display unit-   218: touch detection unit-   230: area memory-   240: screen control unit-   242: detection area setting unit-   250: boundary line

The invention claimed is:
 1. A communication terminal comprising: adisplay that displays at least a first image and a second image adjacentto the first image; a touch detector that receives a user input on asurface of the display; and a controller including a processorcommunicatively coupled to memory containing instructions, the processorexecuting the instructions to control the display and to display thefirst image and the second image simultaneously on the display and tochange the sizes of the first image and the second image relative to oneanother, wherein with the second image smaller than the first image, thecontroller controls display of the first image if the touch detectorreceives a user input on an area of the second image on the display, andwith the first image smaller than the second image, the controllercontrols the display of the second image if the touch detector receivesa user input on an area of the first image on the display, and thecontrolling of the display of the first image and the controlling of thedisplay of the second image is switched with a user input to change therelative sizes of the first and second images.
 2. The communicationterminal according to claim 1, wherein the controller sets an area forthe user input in the first and second images according to therespective size of the first and second images.
 3. The communicationterminal according to claim 1, wherein the first image and the secondimage are not overlapping each other.
 4. The communication terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein switching to controlling of the display ofthe first image occurs with a change to make the second image smallerthan the first image, and switching to controlling of the display of thesecond image occurs with a change to make the first image smaller thanthe second image.
 5. The communication terminal according to claim 1,wherein a portion of the second image is displayed in a same area of thedisplay before and after switching between controlling of the display ofthe first image and controlling of the display of the second image.
 6. Acommunication terminal comprising: a processor; and memorycommunicatively coupled to the processor and containing instructionsthat when executed by the processor cause the processor to: display on adisplay including a touch detector that receives a user input on asurface of the display at least a first image and a second imageadjacent to the first image; with the second image smaller than thefirst image, control the display of the first image if a user input onan area of the second image on the display; with the first image smallerthan the second image, control the display of the second image if thetouch detector receives a user input on an area of the first image onthe display; and switch between control of the display of the firstimage and control of the display of the second image with a user inputto change the relative sizes of the first and second images.
 7. Thecommunication terminal according to claim 6, wherein the processor setsan area for the user input in the first and second images according tothe respective size of the first and second images.
 8. The communicationterminal according to claim 6, wherein the first image and the secondimage are not overlapping each other.
 9. The communication terminalaccording to claim 6, wherein the switch to control the display of thefirst image occurs with a change to make the second image smaller thanthe first image, and the switch to control the display of the secondimage occurs with a change to make the first image smaller than thesecond image.
 10. The communication terminal according to claim 6,wherein a portion of the second image is displayed in a same area of thedisplay before and after the switching between controlling of thedisplay of the first image and controlling of the display of the secondimage.
 11. A communication terminal comprising: a display that displaysat least a first image and a second image adjacent to the first image ona display; a processor communicatively coupled to memory containinginstructions, the processor executing the instructions to set one of afirst mode, a second mode, and a third mode, and the processor operableto: set the first mode, operable to set the second mode, and operable toset the third mode, wherein in the first mode, the first image and thesecond image are displayed at substantially a same size, in the secondmode, a size of the second image is smaller than a size of the firstimage, and in the third mode, the size of the first image is smallerthan the size of the second image; control display of the first image ifa user inputs on an area of the second image in the second mode; andcontrol display of the second image if a user inputs on an area of thefirst image in the third mode, wherein a transition from the second modeto the third mode causes the processor to switch from control of displayof the first image to control of display of the second image, and atransition from the third mode to the second mode causes the processorto switch from control of display of the second image to control ofdisplay of the first image, and one of the transitions between thesecond and third modes changes with a change in the relative size of thefirst and second images.
 12. The communication terminal according toclaim 11, wherein the processor is operable to set an area for the userinput in the first and second images according to the respective size ofthe first and second images.
 13. The communication terminal according toclaim 11, wherein the first image and the second image are notoverlapping each other, and the second image of the second mode isdisplayed at a size smaller than the size of the second image of thefirst mode.
 14. The communication terminal according to claim 11,wherein the switch to control the display of the first image occurs witha change to make the second image smaller than the first image, and theswitch to control the display of the second image occurs with a changeto make the first image smaller than the second image.
 15. Thecommunication terminal according to claim 11, wherein a portion of thesecond image of the second mode and a portion of the second image of thethird mode are displayed in a same area of the display.